Cable conduit and truck



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.WILLIAM EEcxEET, E YoNKEEs, NEW YORK, AssIeNoE To EENJ;BUTTER- woETH,TEUsTEE, on oINcINNATnoEIo. y

CABLE CO-NDUIT AND TRUCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 382,810. dated May15,V 1888. Application sled February 13,1888. serial No. 263,869." (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may cocerm .Be it known that I, WILLIAM HEGKEET, ,acitizen of the United States, residing` at Yonkers, in the county ofWestchester and State of NewYork, have invented certain. new and luseful Improvements in Cable Conduits and Trucks; and Ido hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theInvention, such as will enable others skilled in ro the art t0 which itappertains -to make and use the same. f y My invention consists of theimproved con-l struction of cable-conduits and cable-trucks, hereinafterto be described and illustrated. x 5 Figure 1 shows a side view of thecable and cable-truck. Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of the conduit withthe truck in it.y Fig. 3 shows a sIde view of the cable with alongitudinal axial section of the cable-truck and the buttons at theends of the same. Fig. 4. shows the position of the conduit in theroad-bed and the way in which it is fastened to the ties. Fig. 5 is aplan view of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a side vlew of the cable-center with itssurrounding mass of soft metal. Fig. 7 is a cross-section on line Y Y,Fig. 8, showing the cable-center wlth its surrounding mass of softmetal, the cable-strands, and the secondary mass of soft metal inclosingthestrands and separating them =o one from another. Fig. 8 is a sideview of Fig. 7, the secondary mass of soft metal being removed, itsposition being indicatedby dot- -ted lines.

Like letters refer to like parts throughout the drawings. c z

The cable truck and conduit herein illusf trated are designed to formpart of my cablerailway system as described in this and two otherapplications iiled of even date herewith, Serial Nos. 263,868 and263,870. l The cable C is supported at each 'interval of aboutsixty-eight inches by a two-part truck,- TT', which surrounds it and isbolted together by the bolts Z Z'. This truck has two wheels,

ingsin the part T of the truck. The upper part of the truck extendsupward in the form of aprojection, T', lwhich engages the teeth of thesprocket-chain on the car. (Not shown in 5o this application.) v

fastening the truck-frame and buttons to the W W', whose axes A A run injournal-beary The track and conduit are shown in Figs. 2, :4, and 5.iYThe rails F F' restl upon the sleepers SS', which are held together bythetie D; To thel tie D is fastened the double bracket Gr' by theboltsorspikes o v. The double bracket 55 l l n G supports the two inclinedside' pieces, M M',

of the conduit by the bolts m m'. Y Upon these side pieces are formedthe two pairs of rails B. R and r r', upon which the truck-wheels W W'run. The bottom piece, N, is held in place 6o by the overlapping sidepieces, M M'.

'p I support my'truek upon the cable at three independent points, thus'equalizng the strain upon the cable-strands. The central cavity of thetruck-frame is filled in with `Babbitt or other. vsoftnietal, b", whichenters the space betweenijthe strands and sets in cooling. In the sameway the buttons B B'one at each end of the truck-frame-are fastenedtothe cable by the Babbitt metal, b and b'. The tubular ex- 7o tensionsVofthe truck-frame are made bellmouthed, as shown in Fig. 3. Thusthecable inv going around curves may bend gradually within `theseextensions -and not- Vsharply at their ends, as would otherwise `be thecase. 7 5 f The ends E E of these extensions are turned off in the formof a spherical surface whose center is the center of the truck-frame.The inner ends ofthe buttousBB' are turned to c0r respond, and thus thebuttons always bear against the ends of the truck-frame and relieve theBabbitt metal, b", of a part of the strain..

rIhe upper part, T', of the truck-frame is provided with suitableoil-ducts, hV h'. The Babbitt metal b" is poured' into ythe' truckthrough a hole in the partv T, stopped by the .plug P.. After theBabbittmetalhas cooled, the cavity H is dug out. This maybe lilled withcotton waste, which will absorbthevoil used in lubricating the journalsA A', which are in part exposed in the cavity H, as shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 shows the conventional methodl of cable. My improved method isshown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8. The strandsp p', Src., ofthe cable arepicked apart, and the two-part spirallycorrugated egg-shaped massof softmetal, g', is placed about the cable-center g. The cable is thensubjected to tension and the strands ,alfy Ioo lowed to settle into thecorrugations on g. The truck-frame or button, as the case may be,V isthen placed about the cable and the entire cavity, including the spacebetween the cable- Strands, is filled in with a secondary'mass of softmetal, b. Thus a firm grip Vis secured upon each and every strand.

The operation and advantages of my pe euliar construction nothereinbefore set out are these: The axial line of each truck-wheelpassing through the tread of the opposite wheel and the rail on which itruns, the latter forms a natural fulcrum about which the truck mayrevolve. Thus, if the cable is bent to the right, Fig. 2, in rounding acurve when the lat eral strain exceeds the vertical strain the truckwill revolve about the point R, and the wheel W will lift and roll onthe upper rail, r', so the curve is rounded with the least possibleamount of grinding and with no skidding of the wheels.

The inclined sides of the conduit allow the learth when expanded byfrost to slide up the overlapping side pieces, but may be taken up atany time by simply removing one of the side pieces, while there are nobolts or boltholes in it to be rusted out by the moisture accumulatingat the bottom.

The inclined sides M M of the conduit having the inclined rails R R atthe bottom and at the point farthest from the slot protect the railsfrom falling dirt, &c., so that the truckwheels run easily and quietly.The inclined surface of the rails affords a lateral as well as avertical support to the rails, so that no curve system of rollers orpulleys is necessary at the bends in the line. Such systems are anecessity in all other cable roads, and are costly, absorb much power,and rapidly destroy the cable.

Having therefore described my invention, what I claim as new, and desireto protect by Letters Patent, isf- 1. In combination, a cable-conduitfor traction-cable railroads having an upper and a lower pair of rails,the cable-truck supported by wheels ruiming normally upon the lower setof rails and having its wheels inclined one toward the other, so thatthe axial line ot' each passes through the rail upon which the otherruns, substantially as described.

2. A cable-truck for traction-cable railroads having its wheels soinclined one to the other that the aXial line of each wheel passesthrough the tread of the other, substantially as described. A

8. A cable-conduit of trapezoidal cross-section having,incombination,thedoublebracket, theinclined side pieces supported by thebrackets and separated by a central overhead slot, and the licor-pieceheld in place by the overlappingside pieces, substantially as described.

4. A cable-truck for traction-cable railways having th ree separate andindependent points of support upon the cable, substantially as delscribed.

5. In a cable-truck for traction-cable railways, the truck-framecentered on a ball of soft metal and having tubular bell-mouthedextensions surroundingthe cable, in combination with the two auxiliarybuttons, one at each end of the truck-frame, each centered upon its ballof soft metal, the bearing-surfaces of the buttons, and truck-extensionforming portions of the surface ot'- a sphere whose center coincideswith that of the truck-frame, substantially as described.

6. A cable-truck frame having the central cavity connected with inclinedjournal-bearings, in combination with the plugged oil-hole leading tothe same, substantially as described.

7. An organization of parts designed to secure a button upon a cable,consisting of the following combination: the cable-center, the two-parteggshaped mass of soft metal surrounding the cable-center and providedwith spiral corrugations, the surrounding cablestrands fitting into thesaid corrugations, and the secondary mass of soft metal surrounding andseparating the strands, substantially as described. v

8. In a cable road, the conduit having inclined sides and inclined railsforming a track foi` a cable-truck, in combination with a truck havingits wheels and axles inclined one toward another and provided with anupward projection for engaging with the sprockets on a chain-gri p,substantially as described.

9. A cable-truck having its wheels inclined one toward the other,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM HECKERT.

Witnesses:

FRANK HEUKERT, LAURA A. HECKERT.

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